SPS carried out a survey of those involved in commissioning and procurement activities asking for views on what the future should hold for these directives. Should we carry on as before, scrap them, or reform them for our benefit? The answer received was clear and unequivocal – reform so that they work for our interests.

This short report summarises the results and findings, provides some useful background material on the directives, and floats some ideas for how we can build on the WT

This short report analyses the outcomes from the category management survey that was carried out by SPS Consultancy Services from 18th January to 2nd March 2016. The survey was designed to ascertain just how established category management is across English local councils and what, if any barriers, existed to its wider uptake. A similar survey was undertaken in 2011/12.

The Case for Commissioning and Procurement Transformation in English Local Government

CIPFA commissioned Ken Cole to write this short White Paper to help CFOs across the UK
ask the right questions to ensure that their body is fully committed to the essential transformation of commissioning and procurement.

Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced) have released their latest white paper - "How to unlock hidden savings in your procurement process". It discusses the key benefits of a streamlined and intelligent procurement process and examines how smart procurement can be achieved.

A white paper by Peter Smith - Supplier Lifecycle Management works from the premise that the supplier should be considered as central to procurement activities and processes, an approach which drives significant benefits.

This white paper sets out how and why local authority procurement change can and must become a reality - it throws down the gauntlet to those local authorities that want to "have it all": improving their services, freezing council taxes and balancing their budgets.

This white paper is designed to make the intellectual case for SRD as well as providing advice and guidance on sources of further information and advice. It also lays out how and why you can't afford not to give Supplier Relationship Development serious consideration.

This White Paper by Ken Cole seeks to summarise the lessons from England's implementation of the Byatt Report, particularly around the outcomes for SR2004 and the problems that local authorities have faced in making progress. It concludes by providing some challenging and topical contributions for consideration by Scottish public sector organisations.

In June 2001, Sir Ian Byatt's taskforce, commissioned by the Government to review "the state of procurement skills and practice in local Government in England", produced its report. Although an old paper now having been written in 2002, it contains lots of useful pointers and references to help people new to local government procurement understand its context.

Following on from the publication of the CIPS Paper on Procurement classifications in 2002, four major local Councils have collaborated to carry out a detailed study and assessment of the various standards available to buying organisations. This paper sets out how they got to their recommendations.